What is a body if not a safe space?
How come within my skin I faced
Uncomfortableness from friend and foe the same.
I look back on it now and laugh at the shame.
Brought upon me by those
With old school Christian ways.
“Boys will be boys,” they said when I complained.
About how they gripped at my chest
My thighs, My bra straps, My thick mane.
It all felt so hopeless then.
It felt like I couldn’t win.
Against a system, a culture, a people
That had deemed my body public property.
When my mother found out she set me straight promptly.
That I should not encourage trouble upon me
And to not make myself enticing to draw in unwanted company.
In the halls of my Southern elite high school
I rotted away knowing there was nothing I could do.
That was until me too
When I saw people cared to not let boys do what they want to do
To stand up for bodily autonomy no matter the obstacles I had to go through
Guns, knives and defense classes caused clashes
with family and boyfriends alike
But we persevered
We fought to be not only protected but also feared
I am proud to say we have incited tears from abusers’ eyes
As they kiss their families goodbye
After I used ICE to cool my rage
And send them packing from a cage
To their country of origin.
We did not let our religious start to life
Hinder us from doing what’s right.
Silence begets silence
Passiveness begets passiveness
In it grows rot that must be dug out and purged.
We have found our voice and the strength to not let it be silenced.